MEADE the second death illustrated. 


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SERMON 

DELIVERED BEFORE THE 


FIRST UlVIVERSAljIST SOCIETY 


IN TAUNTON, MASS. 


ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1832. 


BY JOHN B. DODS, PASTOR. 










It is due to the author to state, that he had no time to transcribe 


the following discourse, which is an apology for the imperfect state in 
which it is given to the public. 



As‘10 1942 




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^LBV 

I 613 


SERMON. 




REVELATION XX: 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. 

And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face 
the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for 
therft. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and 
the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the 
book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were 
written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up 
the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead 
which were in them: and they were judged every man according to 
their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This 
is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the 
book of life was cast into the lake of fire. 


Our text involves a subject of no ordinary moment, 
and with feelings of more than ordinary interest do I 
approach the extended field of investigation now open¬ 
ing before me. I feel no disposition to trifle with the 
doctrines of my fellow men, nor with sacred things. I 
stand not here to wrest the scriptures from their ob¬ 
vious import by any ingenuity of speech, but to make 
a righteous developement of truth, and thus humbly 
endeavor to present to my audience the sacred oracles 
in their naked grandeur. 

This text you have with the best of intentions pre¬ 
sented me for my consideration, and most cheerfully 
do I bring it forward for the edification of all sincere 
inquirers after truth. In doing this I have no wish to 
disturb others in their honest opinions, nor give them 
one feeling of distress, while I candidly and solemn¬ 
ly examine those errors in their doctrines which have 
become so venerable on account of their age, and so 
sanctified on account of so many good, great and 
learned men believing them, that to many it may seen 


4 


bordering on blasphemy to call those errors in ques¬ 
tion. But duties, momentous as our existence, and 
sacred and dear as the strongest ties of social , or even 
parental affection , are laid upon us, and these duties 
we may not forego. 

Did I believe the doctrine of endless misery true, I 
could have no inducement to hide its awfulness from 
my fellow creatures, or to trifle with my own, or their 
final destiny. Were that sentiment true, and did 1 be¬ 
lieve it, I would stand before you with other emotions 
than those that now pervade my bosom. And painful 
as might be the task, yet with all these dear friends and 
unsuspecting children around me, I would with a 
trembling hand draw aside the curtains of the tomb, 
point you to the future world, and lay open and naked 
to your mental view, the dark regions of despair, and 
let you listen to the final groan of hapless millions, and 
to the roar of that tremendous ocean whose surges 
are liquid fire, and whose surrounding atmosphere is 
living flame. Were I satisfied of the truth of this sen¬ 
timent, then no feelings of friendship, or of fond at¬ 
tachment—no riches, honors, or popularity should 
keep me one moment where I am. I would sacrifice 
the whole on the altar of truth, to the omnipotence of 
which all must sooner or later bow. 

We are now about to examine a passage of script¬ 
ure, classed among those which by many are sup¬ 
posed to teach the doctrine of endless misery. There 
is probably no phrase in the Book of God, that has 
been more frequently pronounced by our religious op- 
posers, than the “ second death, 55 or the “lake of fire 
and brimstone, 55 when engaged in argument against 
universal holiness. They consider our text more forci¬ 
bly to express the awfulness of that doom, which they 
honestly believe awaits the “finally impenitent 55 in the 
future world, than any other in the sacred oracles. So 
much force have preachers in different ages given to 
the scripture metaphor—“the lake of fire and brim¬ 
stone, 55 that the impression became general of its be¬ 
ing a burning world—and the imaginations of thou¬ 
sands have been distracted in contemplating the in- 


5 


describable horrors of the scene. For many years it 
would have been considered impiety to have believed 
it to be any thing less than an ocean of literal fire and 
brimstone ; and it is of but recent date that the better 
informed have substituted the milder phrase—a hell of 
conscience. 

But taking our whole text in connection, it is even 
in the present day brought forward with a confidence 
bordering on certainty, that it is unanswerable by Uni- 
versalists, being, as they suppose, completely at vari¬ 
ance with the ultimate salvation of all men. Here 
they contend it is plainly stated that Christ shall sit 
upon a great white throne of indescribable splendor— 
That at the grandeur of the scene the earth and the 
heavens shall recoil, be suddenly wrapped in flames, 
pass away with a great noise, and be blotted out for¬ 
ever from the catalogue of existence—That at the 
same instant the sepulchres of slumbering generations 
shall give up their dead, and that the undivided atten¬ 
tion and the strongest sensibilities of the universe shall 
be awakened to the interest of that day for which all 
other days were made—That the whole human family 
shall then be judged ;• and that all those whose names 
are not written in the book of life, shall be sentenced 
to endless misery in the future world, which is express¬ 
ed in the text by a second death —a lake of fire . 

Previous to our noticing the second death , we will 
attempt to show that we have no revelation of such a 
judgment day, and that the language generally quoted 
to prove it, has no possible reference to the subject. 
And here we would remark, that the Egyptians wor¬ 
shipped the sun, moon and other hosts of heaven as 
the gods that governed the world, and produced all 
the changes, prosperous or adverse, that took place 
among men. The man whose life was marked by mis¬ 
fortune, was supposed to have been born under an un¬ 
lucky planet, which was the god that directed his fate. 
If a nation suffered conquest, being torn to pieces and 
captivated, it was represented by all the planets being 
darkened over the land, or falling from their places, 
and thus withdrawing their shining. 


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The Hebrews while in servitude among the Egyp¬ 
tians learned their notions of worship ; and even after 
they were liberated by Moses, they did homage to the 
hosts of heaven. It is therefore reasonable to con¬ 
clude, that when these Hebrews were visited by nation¬ 
al judgments, that the Prophets would use the popu¬ 
lar language of the day in describing them. The 
Prophets preserved this eastern mode of figurative 
expression in all their writings, and so did the Grecians 
and Romans, and Jesus Christ and his apostles. When 
judgments were brought upon nations, all the sacred 
writers represent it under the figure of the sun and 
moon being darkened and stars falling, and the earth 
passing away and dissolving. In proof of this, see 
Isai. xii. chapter, where the Prophet represents the 
fall of Babylon. “For the stars of heaven and the 
constellations thereof shall not give their light; the 
sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon 
shall not cause her light to shine. * * Therefore I 
will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out 
of her place,” &c. In the xxiv. and xxxiv. chapters, 
the Prophet represents the destruction of Tyre and 
Idumea by the earth and heavens as clean dissolved, 
as passed away, and fallen to rise no more. Ezekiel, 
in the xxxii. chapter, describes the fearful fall of Egypt 
as follows:—“And when I shall put thee out, I will 
cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark ; I 
will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall 
not give her light. All the bright lights of heaven will 
I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, 
saith the Lord God.” See also Joel, ii. chapter. And 
see the words of Christ, Matt, xxiv., Mark xiii., and 
Luke xxi. chapters. See also 2 Peter, chapter iii. We 
have now referred to all the passages in the bible, ex¬ 
cept one, which divines quote to prove the destruction 
of the earth, sun, moon and stars at the end of time. 
But you perceive that they all refer to the overturn of 
governments and the destruction of nations. This is 
a fact substantiated by the context of those several 
records, and it is a matter of astonishment to me that 


any of them should ever have been brought forward to 
prove a judgment at the end of time. 

We will now introduce the last passage on this sub¬ 
ject in the bible, and give you the Comments of Dr. 
Adam Clark, the most profound scholar that ever 
wrote in defence of the Methodist doctrine, and show 
you that we are not alone in our application of such 
scriptures. Rev. vi. chapter. “ And when he had 
opened the sixth seal, the sun became black as sack¬ 
cloth of hair, and the moon became as blood. And 
the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig- 
tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a 
mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll 
when it is rolled together, and every mountain and 
island were moved out of their places. 57 Let us now 
hear Dr. Clark : [“ A great earthquake 55 ]—“ A most 
“ stupendous change in the civil and religious consti¬ 
tution of the world. If it refer to Constantine the 

Great, the change that was made by his conversion 
“ to Christianity, might be very properly represented 
“ under the emblem of an earthquake and the other 
“ symbols mentioned in this and the following verses. 
[ u The sun”~\ —The ancient Pagan government of the 
“ Roman Empire was totally darkened, and like a 
“ black hair sackcloth was degraded and humbled to 
“ the dust. [“ The moon”~\ —The ecclesiastical state of 
“ the same Empire became as blood, was totally ruin- 
“ ed; their sacred rites abrogated, their priests and re- 
“ ligious institutions desecrated, their altars cast down, 
“ and their temples destroyed, or turned into places 
“ for Christian worship. [ u The stars ofheaven”~\ —The 
“ gods and goddesses, the demi-gods and deified he- 
“ roes of their poetical and mythological heaven, pros- 
“ trated indiscriminately, lay as useless as the figs, or 
“ fruit of a tree shaken down before ripe by a tem- 
“ pestuous wind. [“ And the heavens departed as a 
“ scroll ”]—The whole system of Pagan and idolatrous 
“ worship, with all its spiritual, secular and supersti- 
“ tious influence, blasted, shriveled up, and rendered 
“ null and void as a parchment scroll when exposed to 


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“ the action of a strong fire. [“ And every moun* 
“tain ”]—All the props, support and dependencies of 
“ the Empire, whether regal allies, tributary kings, de- 
“ pendent colonies, or mercenary troops, were moved 
“ out of their places, so as to stand no longer in rela- 
“ tion to that same Empire, and its worship, support 
“ and maintenance as they formerly did. [“ And isl- 
“ and ”]—The heathen temples with their precincts 
“ and enclosures cut off from the common people, and 
“ into which none could come but the privileged, may 
“ here be represented by islands for the same reasons.” 
Dr. Clark would have applied the above to the de¬ 
struction of Jerusalem, had he not come to the con¬ 
clusion that the Revelations were written after that 
event. He however says,—“All these things may lit¬ 
erally apply to the final destruction of Jerusalem,” &c. 
This we believe to be the fact. He then refers to Dr. 
Dodd, Newton, and Lowman, and shows that they ap¬ 
ply such figurative language to the destruction of na¬ 
tions ; and in justification of such an application, he 
refers the reader to the words of Isaiah, Ezekiel, and 
of our Lord, which we have already noticed. 

Perhaps the hearer may now wish to inquire wheth¬ 
er he, who sat upon the great white throne, was not 
the Son of man ? We answer it was. Then asks the 
hearer, does not the text refer to the end of time, and 
to the literal destruction of the earth and heaven ? It 
does not. We have shown you that all the passages 
in the bible on which people rely to support that sen¬ 
timent have no reference to the catastrophe of dissolv¬ 
ing worlds. Their contexts will not justify such an 
application. This may suggest to the mind of the 
hearer another question.—Is not the coming of the 
Son of man to judge the world to take place at the 
destruction of the earth ? I answer, we have no such 
revelation. In proof of this, we will here notice the 
scripture account of the coming of the Son of man 
given by Christ himself. 

The first passage is in Matt. x. 23. “ Ye shall not 
have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son of man 
be come.” Matt. xvi. 27, 28. “ For the Son of man 


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shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; 
and then he shall reward every man according to his 
works. Verily I say unto you, there be some stand¬ 
ing here which shall not taste of death till they see the 
Son of man coming in his kingdom.’ 5 Mat. xxiv. 30, 
44. “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of 
man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the 
earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man com¬ 
ing in the clouds of heaven with power and great glo¬ 
ry- * * * Verily I say unto you, this generation shall 
not pass away till all these things be fulfilled.” See 
the corresponding passages, Mark viii. 38 ; Mark xiii. 
26, 30 ; Luke ix. 26, 27 ; Luke xxi. 27—32. 

We have now referred you to every passage in the 
New Testament where Jesus speaks of his coming. 
It is the language of Christ himself, with which, we 
are not at liberty to trifle. And as he has solemnly 
declared in every instance that he would come in that 
generation, or in the life time of some of the persons 
he addressed, or before they had gone over the cities of 
Israel , to reward every man according to his works, 
you and I have no authority to contend that his com¬ 
ing is still future, or confined to some last day when 
the earth and heaven shall literally pass away, and the 
whole human family be congregated before him for 
trial. No—he came in his kingdom nearly eighteen 
hundred years ago, and put an end to the ceremonial 
law by destroying the temple consecrated to ceremo¬ 
nial worship, by rendering to the Jewish and other na¬ 
tions according to their works—and by commencing 
the judgment of the world by his gospel—and his 
judgment, or reign which then began, is to be contin¬ 
ued and pass upon succeeding generations. 

We now perceive that there are two principal judg¬ 
ment days revealed in the bible. The first was under 
the ceremonial law instituted by Moses, which judg¬ 
ment day lasted till it was abolished by the coming of 
Christ, and then the judgment day under the gospel 
commenced. This point I believe has been generally 
overlooked. I would here observe that God is “judge 
of all the earth,” and employs in this work no agent, 


10 


only so far as to reveal to men the laws of his king¬ 
dom which rule over all. He revealed the laws ap¬ 
pertaining to the first dispensation to the Jewish na¬ 
tion through the agency of Moses. And the contin¬ 
ued enforcement of these laws was the continued reign 
or judgment of Moses over the Jews. Consequently, 
Moses is represented as being among them, and judg¬ 
ing. Christ says, “they have Moses and the Proph¬ 
ets”—that is, they had the laws and will, which God 
revealed to the Jewish nation through the agency of 
those servants. Again he says,—“Think not that I 
will accuse you to the Father, for there is one that 
judgeth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.” We are 
not to understand by this that Moses, being dead, had 
any thing to do with the government of the Jews. We 
are only to understand that God judged , or in other 
words, ruled his people for two thousand years by those 
laws which he had revealed to them by his servant, 
Moses, who sat as it were upon a throne of judgment 
among that people. 

God, through Christ, revealed to the world the doc¬ 
trine of life and immortality. He established a dis¬ 
pensation that far exceeded the former in glory. The 
first was temporal, the second eternal; the first em¬ 
braced one nation, the second the universe. Christ 
has taken a glorious throne, and still continues to judge 
the world by the spirit and truth of his gospel His 
reign is the last, and his kingdom shall consume and 
break in pieces all other kingdoms, and all dominions 
shall serve and obey him. That Christ received his 
throne, and commenced the judgment of the world by 
his gospel at the destruction of the Jewish state, is 
certain from his own words—“The Son of man is as a 
man travelling into a far country to receive for himself 
a kingdom and return. And when he was returned, 
having received the kingdom, he commanded his ser¬ 
vants to be called, so that he might reckon with them,” 
&c. From this it is evident that he commenced the 
judgment of the world when he received his kingdom . 
And if this judgment is not to take place till the end 
of time, then till that period Christ will be without a 


11 


kingdom. If this be so, then he is as yet no king, nor 
has he commenced his reign. But as he came in his 
kingdom before his disciples had “gone over the cities 
ol Israel,” it is certain that he then commenced the 
judgment of the world—he then “reckoned with his 
servants”—and “ then rewarded every man according 
to his works”. The judgment day under the law by 
Moses then closed, and God is now judging the secrets 
of men’s hearts by Jesus Christ. 

The Prophet says, “he shall not fail, nor be discour¬ 
aged till he hath set judgment in the earth.” Jesus 
says, “for judgment am I come into the world.” Yes, 
he declares that “now is the judgment of this world; 
now shall the prince of this world [the Jewish hierar¬ 
chy] be cast out, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, 
will draw all men unto me.” All the rites and ceremo¬ 
nies of the first covenant, which Moses established by 
the direction of God, were to pass away before the 
gospel covenant could be established, and the judg¬ 
ment, that is, the reign of Christ commence. Paul 
says, “he taketh away the first , that he may establish 
the second .” And the moment he was seated on his 
great white throne of gospel purity, the Jewish earth 
and heaven fled from his face, and there was no place 
found for them. We now understand the expression,— 
“Zion shall be redeemed with judgment and her con¬ 
verts with righteousness”—that is, by the judgment, 
or reign of Christ, all things in heaven and earth are 
to be reconciled to God, and God shall be all in all. 

Having explained by the scriptures of truth what we 
are to understand by the earth and heaven passing 
away, and shown that such language being figurative, 
was not designed to teach the literal destruction of the 
earth—and having shown that the coming of Christ in 
his kingdom has no reference to the end of time, but 
to the commencement of his reign—and having notic¬ 
ed the scripture doctrine of God’s judging the Jews by 
Moses under the law, and lastly of his judging the se¬ 
crets of men’s hearts by Jesus Christ under the Gospel, 
we now pass on to notice the second death , which of 
course implies a first . 


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In doing this, I shall pursue an untrodden path. On 
this subject I have had my opinion made up for several 
years, and on perusing the many expositions given to 
the public, I have had no occasion to change that 
opinion. 

Our opposers suppose that by the first death is 
meant the death of the body, and by the second is meant 
an eternal death in the future world, which consists in 
the most exquisite sufferings that the imagination can 
conceive. It must be granted by all that a second 
death, not only presupposes a first , but implies that it 
must be of the same character with the first death—or 
that there must at least subsist between them an anal¬ 
ogy sufficiently strong to justify the subsequent phrase, 
second death , as relative to its antecedent—a first death. 
But what resemblance is there between the death of 
the body, which is a total loss of all sensation and pain, 
and a state of the most exquisite suffering in the im¬ 
mortal world ? None at all. Then they do not stand 
in relation to each other, so as to justify the expression 
of first and second death . 

On the other hand, the generally received opinion 
among Universalists seems to be, that by the second 
death is meant the Christian apostacy, which com¬ 
menced in the days of the Apostles, and which John 
noticed in his address to the seven churches of Asia. 
He says, “ thou hast a name that thou livest and art 
dead.” Again—“ He that overcometh shall not be 
hurt of the second death.” Though there is much in¬ 
genuity in the arguments adduced in support of this 
opinion, and not a little plausibility, yet they have 
never been satisfactory to my mind. 

If men should embrace the gospel, fall away, em¬ 
brace it a second time, and again fall away, it would 
of course be a second death. It would therefore re¬ 
quire a second apostacy from the gospel to make out a 
second death. They must twice lose the same life and 
twice endure the same death. For men, who are 
dead in trespasses and sins under the law, to embrace 
the gospel, and then fall back into a state of unbelief, 
or error, does not make out two deaths of the same 


13 


nature, inasmuch as the same gospel life had not been 
twice lost. It is further evident that the Christian apos- 
tacy is not the second death because John declares in 
the context— 44 Blessed and holy is he that hath a part 
in the first resurrection; on such the second death 
hath no power.” By this I understand the believers 
who were raised from all their trials and persecutions 
into the full and peaceable enjoyment of Christ’s king¬ 
dom at the destruction of the Jewish state, and means 
the same as the words of Jesus— 44 Thou shalt be rec¬ 
ompensed at the resurrection of the just” If they had 
apostatized from the gospel, then in direct opposition 
to the words of John, they would have had a part in 
the second death, admitting the second death to have 
been the Christian apostacy. But their 44 faith was per¬ 
fected,” and their 44 hearts were established unblamea- 
ble in holiness before God, even the Father at the com¬ 
ing of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.” This 
is the 44 time the saints possessed the kingdom”—that 
44 they sat upon thrones and judgment was given them.” 

We now proceed to show that the first and second 
death mean the first and second destruction of the 
Jews as a nation, which took place at the destruction 
of their first and second temple. We will show that 
the second death is national , not moral . 

God established the Jews, as a nation, in the land of 
Judea under a government purely religious which con¬ 
stituted their national existence. Their first temple 
was built by Solomon, and was considered the dwelling 
place of the Most High, where he more immediately 
manifested the divine presence and glory to his wor¬ 
shipping people. Though he was said to 44 dwell be¬ 
tween the Cherubims,” and to fill that house with his 
glory, yet they considered him as present throughout 
the whole land of Judea, directing their national con¬ 
cerns. Their government was a theocracy. On this 
account they would not admit that God was present 
among the heathen in such a sense, that they could 
worship him, or even 44 sing a song of Zion in a strange 
land.” In the land of Judea only could they as a na¬ 
tion live before him, enjoy his presence and worship in 


14 


his temple on Zion’s hill. When their government was 
destroyed, and they were led away into captivity among 
the heathen, they considered themselves as a nation 
dead before God, and banished from his presence. 

That God promised the Jews the continuance of 
national existence and prosperity in the land he had 
given their fathers in case of their obedience , is a sub¬ 
ject so obvious to every reader of the Jewish script¬ 
ures, that it would be a waste of words to attempt for¬ 
mally to prove it. And that he again and again threat¬ 
ened to cast them out of his presence from the land of 
Judea, and scatter them among the heathen, in case of 
their disobedience , is also plainly taught. 

To throw light on the exposition we are now about 
to give, we would remark that, when a nation were 
roused from stupidity to a sense of their impending 
destruction—when their energies were awakened into 
intense action by the approaching horrors of war and 
its attendant calamities, the sacred writers not unfre- 
quently represent it, by the striking figure of being dead 
and buried in the grave and starting suddenly from its 
silent bosom to a state of condemnation. And when 
a nation, or people were in a state of oppression and 
servile bondage, or persecution, and were suddenly to 
be brought into a higher state of enjoyment, or to re¬ 
turn to their former privileges it was also represented 
by a resurrection, but it was a resurrection to life. In 
evidence of this, see John v. 28, 29; and Daniel xii. 2; 
both of which we shall have occasion to notice here¬ 
after. It may not be improper in this place to intro¬ 
duce some orthodox authority to support our views. 
Parkhurst says that the Greek word, anastasis , transla¬ 
ted resurrection , which is derived from the verb anisemi , 
signifying to rise, has the following signification : “ A 
standing on the feet again, or rising as opposed Vo fall¬ 
ing” —“ a rising, or resurrection of the body from the 
grave.” Dr. Campbell says that “the phrase, anastasis 
ton nekron , is indeed the common term by which the 
resurrection, properly so called, is denominated in the 
New Testament, yet this is neither the only, nor the 
primitive import of the word anastasis. It denotes sim- 


15 


ply being raised from inactivity to action, or from ob¬ 
scurity to eminence, or a return to such a state after an 
interruption. The verb anisemi has the like latitude 
of signification ; and both words are used in this extent 
by the writers of the New Testament as well as by the 
LXX.” in the old. My hearers will please keep the 
above in mind. 

We will now proceed to prove by an appeal to the 
scriptures that the captivity of the Jews as a nation, 
when Nebuchadnezzer, king of Babylon overturned 
their government and burnt their first temple, is the 
first death . Leviticus xxvi. 39. “ And they that are left 
of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your ene¬ 
mies’ lands, and also in the iniquities of their fathers 
shall they pine away with them.” Ezekiel xxiv. 23. 
“ But ye shall pine away for your iniquities and mourn 
one towards another.” Ezekiel xxxiii. 10, 11. There¬ 
fore O son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, 
thus speak ye saying: if our transgressions and our 
sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should 
we then live? Say unto them, as I live saith the Lord 
God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked ; 
turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways, for why will ye 
die O house of Israel?” Here we perceive that they 
were not to die a moral death, for they were already 
morally dead. And this moral death was the very 
cause that should produce national death. 

These are a few of the many scriptures we might 
bring forward to prove that the house of Israel pined 
away in their iniquities, and died as a nation in the 
land of their enemies; but these few abundantly estab¬ 
lish the fact that the captivity of the Jews among the 
heathen on account oj their transgressions was consid¬ 
ered a national death. They died to all their religious 
privileges, lost their national existence, and pined 
away in their iniquities in the land of their enemies. 

It now remains that we show, that their return to 
their land at the end of their captivity, when they re¬ 
built the temple under Cyrus, is represented by a res¬ 
urrection to national life. Ezekiel xxxvii. 3—14. “And 
he said unto me, son of man can these bones live ? 



16 


And i answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Again 
he said unto me, prophesy upon these bones, and say 
unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 
Thus saith the Lord God unto these dry bones; behold 
I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: 
And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring flesh 
upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in 
you and ye shall live ; and ye shall know that I am the 
Lord, So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as 
I prophesied, there was a noise and behold a shaking, 
and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And 
when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came upon 
them, and the skin covered them above; but there 
was no breath in them. Then said he unto me, proph¬ 
esy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to 
the wind, thus saith the Lord God, come from the 
four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, 
that they may live. So I prophesied as he command¬ 
ed me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, 
and stood upon their feet an exceeding great army. 
Then said he unto me, son of man, these bones are 
the whole house of Israel: behold they say, our bones 
are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our 
parts. Therefore prophesy, and say unto them, thus 
saith the Lord God ; behold O my people, I will open 
your graves, and cause you to come up out of your 
graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye 
shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened 
your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of 
your graves; and shall put my spirit in you, and ye 
shall live, and I shall place you in your own land : 
then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and 
performed it, saith the Lord.” 

Thus we see, it is most plainly revealed that when 
the house of Israel sinned, and became careless and 
insensible respecting the favors of God and the threat- 
nings of his word, they were suddenly roused from 
their dreadful slumbering^ by the approach of the 
king of Babylon, who burnt their temple, led them 
into captivity beyond Babylon and held them in bond¬ 
age seventy years. There they pined away in their 


17 


iniquities, and became as a valley of dry bones. They 
were dead to all their privileges and enjoyments as a 
nation, Their government was demolished, and their 
national existence was no more. They were not only 
dead in this sense, but in their graves, and buried. 
They hung their harps in mournful silence upon the 
willows along the cold streams of Babylon, and ex¬ 
claimed, “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a 
strange land!” But their bones were gathered, flesh 
came upon them, their graves were opened, the earth 
gave up its dead, and they were brought into the land 
ol their fathers, their temple was rebuilt by order of 
Cyrus, their theocratical government was established, 
and they lived once more as a nation before God. 

We are now to prove that the events recorded in 
our text took place at the destruction of their second 
temple, when their government was again demolished, 
and they as a nation were destroyed and dead before 
God. 

In order to bring this part of our subject plainly be¬ 
fore you, we shall have to make a pretty extensive ap¬ 
peal to the scriptures; and I harbour but little doubt, 
that 1 shall abundantly satisfy my hearers of the cor¬ 
rectness of my views on the second death. 

The Jews, though subject to the Romans, were 
nevertheless permitted to enjoy their own theocratical 
government, and all their modes of worship in the 
temple. John xviii. 31. “Then said Pilate unto them, 
take ye him and judge him according to your law. 
John xix. 7. “ The Jews answered him, we have a law , 
and by our law he ought to die, because he made him¬ 
self the Son of God.” From these scriptures it is evi¬ 
dent that the Jews had a government distinct from the 
Romans. But they had killed the true prophets, made 
void the law of God through their traditions, worship¬ 
ped idols, and made their children pass through the 
fire to Molock in the valley of Hinnam. They were 
filling up the measure of their fathers, the day of ven¬ 
geance was approaching when all the blood shed upon 
the earth from Abel to Zacharias should come upon 
that generation. Blind to approaching ruin, they 
slept as it were in carnal security in the grave of in- 


18 


iquity and darkness, were dead before God in their 
sins, and rejected their promised Messiah. 

From this state of security and blindness, they were 
to be suddenly roused to a state of national condem¬ 
nation and death at the coming of Jesus Christ in his 
kingdom, which was at the destruction of their second 
temple, when Titus, the son of Vespasian, led the Ro¬ 
man army against them, demolished their govern¬ 
ment, and led them captive among all nations. This 
was their second death , called a lake of fire. God’s 
judgments upon the Jews, we will presently show, were 
represented by fire. 

We will first establish the fact, by concurrent scrip¬ 
ture testimony, that our text has reference to the sec¬ 
ond scattering of the holy people at the destruction of 
the second temple, when the daily sacrifice, there offer¬ 
ed up, should be taken away. Daniel ii. 44. “And 
in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set 
up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and 
the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it 
shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, 
and it shall stand forever.” Here is proof positive that 
the mediatorial kingdom was set up in the days of the 
Roman kings, and of that kingdom Christ then took the 
throne. Let us now examine if the opening of the 
books and the judgment mentioned in our text, did not 
then take place. Daniel vii. 9—14. “I beheld till the 
thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did 
sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of 
his head like the pure w T ool; his throne was like the 
fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery 
stream issued and came forth from before him; thous¬ 
and thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand 
times ten thousand stood before him; the judgment 
ivas set , and the books ivere opened . I saw in the night 
visions, and behold, one like the Son of man came 
with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient 
of days, and they brought him near before him. And 
there was given him dominion, and glory, and a king¬ 
dom, that all people, nations, and languages, should 
serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, 


19 


which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which 
shall not be destroyed.” 

In the language of the Prophet above quoted, there 
can arise no misapprehension as to the time when this 
judgment should set. He plainly declares that it 
should be at a time when the kingdom should be giv¬ 
en to the Son of man—when he should commence his 
reign—that then the judgment should set, and the 
books be opened. This is almost in the language of 
our text. 

Now, it is certain that this language of the Prophet 
can have no reference whatever to a general resurrec¬ 
tion of the literally dead, nor to a judgment day at the 
end of time; for all denominations grant, that Christ, 
instead of receiving his kingdom at the immortal res¬ 
urrection, and then commencing his reign, will deliver 
up his kingdom and terminate his reign. And in sup¬ 
port of it, they adduce the words of Paul in 1 Cor. 
xv. 24. “Then cometh the end, when he shall have 
delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; 
when he shall have put down all rule, and all authori¬ 
ty and power.” How, then, “ in the name of com¬ 
mon sense,” can the judgment in dur text, and the 
opening of the books, have the least possible refer¬ 
ence to what people call the last judgment day? To 
contend for this, is not only flying in the face of scrip¬ 
ture, but is contradictory to their own opinions. If 
our text refer to a fancied judgment at the end of time, 
then Christ cannot receive a kingdom, nor be crown¬ 
ed king till that period arrives ; still they grant that he 
now possesses a kingdom, and is himself king of kings. 
But we have proved that the judgment, referred to in 
our text, was at the commencement of his reign, when 
he received his kingdom, (thirty-seven years after his 
resurrection,) and not at the termination of his reign. 

But we are not yet done—we carry our subject still 
further, guided by the lamp of unerring truth. We 
will now show you that not only the judgment, and the 
delivery of those whose names were written in the 
book, referred to in our text, but the resurrection took 
place when the Jews, called the holy people, were 
scattered, and wh^n the daily sacrifice, at the destruc- 


20 


tion of their temple, was taken away. John v. 28, 
29. “Marvel not at this ; for the hour is coming, in 
the which all that are in their graves shall hear his 
voice, And shall come forth; they that have done 
good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have 
done evil unto the resurrection of damnation.” But, 
says the hearer, has not this passage reference to the 
last judgment day, when all shall rise immortal and be 
judged ? It has not; neither is there a passage in the 
Book of God that teaches a judgment beyond the im¬ 
mortal resurrection of the human family. That this 
scripture has reference to the deliverance of the Jew¬ 
ish Christians, who were to be raised from all their per¬ 
secutions and sufferings to an elevated state of honor, 
life and enjoyment at the destruction of the Jewish 
state—that it refers to the persons whose names were 
written in the book of life, and who had a part in the 
“ first resurrection,” called “the resurrection of the 
just,” and over whom “the second death had no pow¬ 
er”—that it refers to these on the one hand, and to the 
unbelieving Jews on the other, who were roused from 
their dark hiding places of security to condemnation, 
and consigned to a second national death—that this 
scripture has reference to that period , and to those two 
classes of character, we will substantiate by the oracles 
of truth. Daniel xii. chapter. “And at that time shall 
Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for 
the children of thy people; and there shall be a time 
of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation 
even to that same time ; and at that time shall thy peo¬ 
ple be delivered, every one that shall be found written 
in the book . And many of them that sleep in the dust 
of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and 
some to shame and everlasting contempt.” That this 
is a parallel passage with that in John, is, I believe, 
denied by none. 

Here, then, we learn, that they were to start out of 
the dust, and that all those whose names were found 
wiitten in the book of life, were to be delivered , and 
the rest condemned , at a period when “there shall be a 
time of trouble, such as there never was since there 
was a nation, even to that same time.” And Christ 


21 


himself, speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem, says, 
(Mat, xxiv. 21)—“For then shall there be great tribu¬ 
lation, such as was not since the beginning of the 
world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” 

But let us read on further in Daniel, xii. chapter. 
“Then I, Daniel, looked, and behold there stood oth¬ 
er two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, 
and the other on that side of the bank of the river. 
And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was 
upon the waters of the river, how long shall it be to 
the end of these wonders?” [By the tuonders , he 
means the time of trouble, the delivery of those who 
are written in the book, and the awaking of those who 
sleep in the dust of the earth. Let us, then, hear the 
answer to this question.] “And I heard the man 
clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the riv¬ 
er, when he held up his right hand and his left hand 
unto heaven, and swear by him that liveth forever, 
that it shall be for a time, times and a half; and when 
he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the 
holy people, all these things shall be finished.” [Here, 
then, this heavenly messenger has made solemn oath, 
that these dead are to awake out of the dust, and that 
all whose names are written in the book, are to be de¬ 
livered at the destruction of Jerusalem, when the Jews, 
the holy people, were scattered. Is this angel a false 
witness? God forbid. But we are not yet done with 
this point. We will read on, and pile evidence on evi¬ 
dence, and let you hear a greater than this messenger 
settle the question.] “ And I heard, but I understood 
not; then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of 
these things? And he said, go thy way, Daniel; for 
the words are closed up, and sealed till the time of the 
end. Many shall be purified, and made white and 
tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none 
of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall un¬ 
derstand. And from the time that the daily sacrifice 
shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh 
desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred 
and ninety days.” 

Let us now appeal to the words of Christ, and hear 
him settle the question. Mat. xxiv. 15, 16. “When 


22 


ye, therefore, shall see the abomination of desolation, 
spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the lioly 
place, (whoso readeth let him understand,) then let 
them which be in Judea, flee into the mountains.” 
Now here Jesus calls Daniel by name, quotes his words, 
and points us forward to the destruction of Jerusalem 
for their fulfilment. The point is then settled that this 
resurrection, and the deliverance of those written in 
the book, took place in the generation Christ address¬ 
ed, and when the holy people were scattered. 

By the sea giving up the dead, and death and hell 
delivering up the dead in them, we are to understand 
that no dark devices, nor secret hiding places could 
protect the Jewish nation from that impending judg¬ 
ment which God in his counsels had determined to 
bring upon them. Their national powers of darkness 
and spiritual wickedness in high places, were to be 
made manifest to all. They said in their hearts, [Isai. 
xxviii. 15]—“We have made a covenant with death, 
and with hell are we at agreement; when the over¬ 
flowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come 
unto us ; for we have made lies our refuge, and under 
falsehood have we hid ourselves.” But though they 
had thus secreted themselves, yet death and hell deliv¬ 
ered them up to national destruction. Verse 18, “Your 
covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your 
agreement with hell shall not stand; when the over¬ 
flowing scourge shall pass through, then shall ye be 
trodden down by it.” Amos ix. 3. “And though 
they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will 
search and take them out thence; and though they 
be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, 
thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite 
them.” The above language is used in reference 
to the living, who are represented as hiding themselves 
under falsehood and lies—as taking refuge in the bot¬ 
tom of the sea, and as making a covenant with death 
and hell, to protect them from national ruin, but all in 
vain ; our text says, they were given up, judged out of 
the books, [the books of the law,] and cast into the 
second death . They were dead in sin ; and this moral 
death exposed them to national death. “If ye believe 


23 


not (says Jesus,) that I am he, ye shall die in your 
sins.” This certainly cannot mean that they should, 
in the future tense, die a moral death. They were al¬ 
ready morally dead. But it means— in the same sin¬ 
ful condition you now are , you shall die a national death , 
because you believe not that I am he. To believe in 
Christ, who is himself the word of eternal life, is to 
have our names written in the book of life. Conse¬ 
quently, all the believing Jews escaped the second 
death, to which they, as a nation, were doomed. They 
fled, according to the directions of Christ, to the 
mountains of Judea for safety, till the dreadful siege 
was over. Not a solitary Christian perished in that 
destruction. 

The hearer will bear in mind, that the second death 
and the lake of fire are used synonimous in our text. 
We will here show, that God’s judgments are not un- 
frequently represented by the figure of fire. Ezekiel 
xxii. 19—22. “ Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, 
f because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore, I 
will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem, as they 
gather silver and brass and iron and lead and tin into 
the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it to 
melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my 
fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you; yea, I 
will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my 
* wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. 
As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall 
ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know 
that I the Lord have poured out my fury upon you.” 
Here you perceive that Jerusalem is represented to be 
a fiery furnace, in which they were to be melted as 
metal. But by reading the chapter you may learn 
that it has reference to their overthrow as a nation, and 
their dispersion among the heathen. We will produce 
one more instance, where the scriptures represent a 
nation in their destruction as having their land turned 
into a lake of fire. Isaiah xxxiv. 8—10. “For it is the 
day of the Lord’s vengeance and the year of the recom- 
pences for the controversy of Zion. And the streams 
thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust there¬ 
of into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become 


24 


burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; 
the smoke thereof shall go up forever and ever: from 
generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall 
pass through it for ever and ever.” Here we perceive 
that the dust of the land is represented- as turned into 
brimstone, and all its streams as rolling forth floods of 
boiling pitch, and yet it means nothing more than the 
temporal judgment of God upon that people. 

Our text is plain, we presume, to every hearer, and 
we now dismiss the subject. In conclusion, we sim¬ 
ply inquire are the Jews to remain in this second death? 
Let Paul answer. Romans xi. Chapter. “For if the 
casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, 
what shall the receiving of them be, but life jrom 
the dead ” * * *. “For I would not brethren that ye 
should be ignorant of this mystery, (lest ye should be 
wise in your own conceits) that blindness in part is hap¬ 
pened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles be come 
in, so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written there 
shall come out of Zion a Deliverer and turn away un¬ 
godliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant with 
them when I shall take away their sins.” * 

Here we have evidence that these dead are again to 
be brought to life. They are to come forth from their 
graves—the dark veil shall be rent from their eyes, and 
“the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to 
Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: 
they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sigh¬ 
ing shall flee away.” 

From this lamentable catastrophe of their overthrow 
and dispersion, and their present unhappy fate as a 
people, let us take warning, and not abuse the choice 
blessings God has bestowed upon us as a nation. Let 
us rightly value our civil and religious liberty, and re¬ 
member if we become corrupt as a people, and unmind¬ 
ful.of that Being,'who holds the destinies of nations in 
his hand, we too shall be hurled from our high station 
of honor to degradation and ruin. Ever bear in mind, 
that moral death is a sad prelude to national death. 


,; JHW X> 

* 'Q?* ^ 

THE CHURCH TO BE PERFECTED, 

A SERMON, 



Preached at the Ordination of 


REV. ANDREW BIGELOW, 


IN SOUTH DARTMOUTH, 

AUGUST 25, 1811, 

BY REY. ASAHEL JMGELOW, 

Pastor of the Orthodox Congregational Church in Walpole, Mass. 



NEW-BEDFORI): 
PRESS OF BENJAMIN LINDSEY. 


1 8 4 I 



«****; 

1 


f. 


At a meeting of the First Congregational Church in Dartmouth, 
August 25th, 1841 — 

Resolved , That the thanks of this Church be returned to the Rev. 
Asahel Bigelow for his very able and appropriate Sermon, delivered 
at the ordination of the Rev. Andrew Bigelow in that place, and 
that a copy be requested for publication — Upon motion, 

Resolved , That T. Thomas and I. C. Thacher, be a Committee to 
communicate this Resolution to the Rev. Asahel Bigelow. 


Rev. Asahel Bigelow, 


Dear Sir — We take pleasure in communicating the enclosed 
Resolution, and to express our desire that you will comply with the 
request of the Church — hoping that when published it will be bene¬ 
ficial and useful to the community at large. 

Very Respectfully, your obedient servants, 


THACHER THOMAS, ) 
ISAIAH C. THACHER \ 


Committee. 


South Dartmouth, August 25th, 1841. 


Messrs. Thomas and Thacher, 

Dear Brethren — Your official communication, embodying a 
Resolution of the Church in this place, and requesting a copy of a 
Sermon, preached at the Ordination of my brother, was received 
last evening. 

The Sermon was not designed for the press, but if, in your estima¬ 
tion it will be beneficial to yourselves or others in advancing the 
great interest of the Church, I cannot refuse a compliance with your 
request; a copy therefore, will be committed to your disposal. 

Yours Respectfully, 


Dartmouth, Aug. 2qth, lg4J c l? ? o 

4 8 

AG 10 MZ 

Accessions Liv*s?on 
T.Uie? hY at GOtt R $S 


ASAHEL BIGELOW. 







I&I4- 


SERMON 


EPHESIANS iv: 18. 

** Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge 
«of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the 
•stature of the fulness of Christ.” 


The present life is a state of imperfection. Scarcely 
nny thing in human affairs has reached a point beyond 
which there can be no improvement. Inventions and 
discoveries are almost daily made in the arts and sci¬ 
ences. The principles of government and their various 
applications, are undergoing important changes. In¬ 
tercourse among the nations, and between different 
parts of the same nation, is rapidly increasing. Civili¬ 
zation is on the advance ; and the world is expecting a 
brighter, happier period than it has ever enjoyed. And 
there is something with respect to divine institutions 
corresponding with this progress in human affairs. The 
former dispensation, compared with the gospel, was 
quite imperfect. “ For even that which was made glo¬ 
rious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the 
glory that excelled!.” Nor is all perfection even under 
the gospel. They who enjoy its richest blessings and 
are most fully under its enlightening, redeeming influ¬ 
ences, are looking forward to a better state. “ For the 



earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the man¬ 
ifestation of the sons of God.” Christians individually 
have not attained, and the church as a body is not 
already perfect. For the Apostle speaks in the name 
of the Church, “ Till we all come in the unity of the 
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a 
perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the ful¬ 
ness of Christ.” This implies that the Church is yet to 
be perfected. Accordingly your attention is invited to 
some particulars in which, and to the means by which, 
the Church is yet to be perfected. 

With respect to religious knowledge the Church is 
yet to be perfected. She comes far short of a thorough 
understanding of the gospel in all its truths, bearings, 
and relations, and is yet to make important advances in 
the knowledge of spiritual things. This is implied in 
the text. Till we all come in the unity of the faith 
and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect 
man. The knowledge of the Son of God, or of Christ, 
is knowledge of what he revealed respecting his own 
character, office, and work as Saviour ; the character, 
government, and will of God; the character and duty 
of man; the immortality of the soul and eternal retri¬ 
bution ; in short, all the truths connected with the gos¬ 
pel. The knowledge which Christians have of these 
truths is in no case perfect during the present life. 
Every one, at all acquainted with himself, is sensible of 
this. The more one studies and understands the gos¬ 
pel, the more conscious is he of ignorance respecting 
it. For, every time he comes to the investigation of it, 
new truths, or new views of the same truths, present 
themselves, so that he is led more and more to admire 
the depth of its riches and wisdom. And if there are 
those who imagine their knowledge of the gospel com¬ 
plete, it is they whose religious information is quite 


Q 


limited. They are like one who, viewing a landscape 
at a distance, thinks he has a perfect perception of it. 
Bat let him approach, enter upon, and attempt to sur¬ 
vey it, and he is soon convinced that his first impres¬ 
sions were very incomplete. And if they, who imagine 
their religious knowledge perfect, should commence a 
thorough investigation of the gospel, they would soon 
find themselves in a field of which they could see no 
limits; and would be disposed to say with the chief of 
the Apostles, “Now we see through a glass darkly,” 
“Now we know in part.” But the time shall come 
when Christians shall see face to face, and know even as 
they are known. They shall grow in grace and in the 
knowledge of the Lord till, with respect to knowledge, 
they shall be perfect men, possessing correct views of 
the gospel in all its parts and relations. 

As a consequence of this perfection in knowledge 
Christians will have completeness, unity, of faith. The 
reason why they are not now one in religious belief is, 
that their religious knowledge is imperfect. None have 
a full perception of the truths of the gospel in all their 
connexions, and bearings. But the knowledge of some 
is more complete than that of others. These different 
degrees of knowledge in different individuals, and this 
imperfection of knowledge in the case of all, are neces¬ 
sarily the occasion of more or less difference with 
respect to religious belief. But, when the knowledge 
of all shall be complete, they will alike see and believe 
the truths of the gospel; and, believing the same truths, 
they will have unity of faith. Objects, viewed by twi¬ 
light, are seen indistinctly, and different individuals 
agree not respecting them. But, when the day has 
fully risen, all is made manifest and agreement follows 
of course. So, when, with respect to religious knowl- 


6 


edge, “ that which is perfect is come,” then this partial 
union of religious belief will be done away. 

Another particular, in which the church is yet to be 
perfected, is holiness. That she has not yet attained, 
neither is already perfect, is obvious to others if not 
to herself. When contemplated as a body, she exhibits 
many imperfections. And if the members of which she 
is composed are examined individually, none are found 
without blemish. Let the thoughts, feelings, and 
actions of any one be impartially tried by the demands 
of either the law or the gospel, and he will be foujjd 
wanting. And probably there are none acquainted with 
their own hearts, who cannot say, at least occasionally, 
“ I see a law in my members warring against the law 
of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law 
of sin.” 

But the church will not always be thus imperfect. 
It will at length come unto the measure of the stature 
of the fulness of Christ. This is his purpose respecting 
it. For he “gave himself for it, that he might sanctify 
and cleanse it; that he might present it to himself a 
glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such 
thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” 
To this perfect degree of holiness the church of Christ 
will ultimately arrive. “We know that, when he shall 
appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he 
is.” 

At present the church is not complete as to its mem¬ 
bers. This is another particular in which it is yet to be 
perfected. When complete, the church will consist of 
individuals gathered from all the generations of men, 
which shall have lived from the beginning to the end 
of time. Some will be still alive when Christ shall 
come at the end of the world. “We shall not all sleep, 


7 


but we shall be changed.” “ We which are alive, and 
remain unto the coming of our Lord, shall not prevent 
them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall 
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the 
archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead 
in Christ shall rise first. Then, we which are alive 
and remain shall be caught up together with them in the 
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.” This shows that 
Christians will be living when Christ shall come at the 
close of time. Consequently, the church will not be 
complete, all its members will not be gathered in, till 
this period shall have arrived. Then it will be perfect. 
Then we all shall have come in^ie unity of the faith, % 
and of the knowledge of the Soi^f God unto a perfect 
man. Then the body, having received all its members, 
will be complete. 

Thus it appears that the church is yet to be perfected 
in knowledge, holiness, and with respect to members. 
The process by which this perfection is to be attained 
is gradual. None, on becoming Christians are at 
once made perfect. Nor, at any subsequent period, is 
their knowledge at once completed by special revelation 
made to them. Neither are any perfected in holiness 
by miraculous influence exerted upon them. But the 
attainment of both knowledge and holiness is progres¬ 
sive. “ The path of the just is as the shining light 
which shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” 
Christians “ grow in grace and in the knowledge of the 
Lord.” “ They are to leave the principles of the doc¬ 
trine of Christ, and go on unto perfection.” As one, 
during a course of years, grows up from infancy to 
manhood, so the church advances from lower to higher 
degrees of spiritual attainment. Each individual is 
making progress. All her members are in a course of 
transformation, and will become so fashioned and spirit- 


8 


ualizcd that, when the whole church shall come together 
in the future world, the body will be complete, harmo¬ 
nious, a glorious church. 

The church will then be perfect in knowledge. Not 
that she will know at once all she ever will know. She 
will doubtless continue to increase in knowledge during 
eternity. But, on arriving at heaven, her knowledge 
of spiritual things will be complete, harmonious. She 
will not understand one part of the great scheme of 
redemption and be ignorant of another, but will have a 
comprehensive, correct view of all its parts, each being 
seen in its true light and regarded according to its real 
p importance. ^ 

The church will continue to advance in holiness 
during eternity. Still, on arriving at heaven, she will 
be perfect in holiness in the sense that she will be free 
from sin. Some of her exercises will not be holy and 
others sinful, but all will be holy, so that her holiness, 
though limited in degree, will be complete. There 
will be no alloy, no mixture of sin, no spot, no blemish. 
Towards this point the church is gradually advancing; 
one member after another is coming in ; each is grow¬ 
ing in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord, and, 
ultimately, we shall all come in the unity of the faith, 
and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect 
man. 

But by what means is this happy result to be attained ? 
The truths of the gospel, received in faith and habitu¬ 
ally contemplated, are the means by which the church 
is to be perfected. For the way in which one becomes 
complete in knowledge, is by studying and meditating 
upon the truth in its various parts and relations. In this 
way the plan of redemption becomes intelligible, and 
is seen to be appropriate. The way too, in which one 
becomes complete in holiness is, by obtaining adequate 


9 


views of the gospel, receiving it in faith, and yielding 
to its full influence. The gospel thus received and 
applied by the holy spirit, produces correct intellectual 
views and right feelings of heart, or becomes effectual 
to sanctification. Agreeably, it was the prayer of Christ, 
“ Sanctify them through thy truth.” Now the means, 
which make the individual member complete in know¬ 
ledge and holiness, are those which render the whole 
body complete. And the means by which the church 
is to be perfected with respect to members are the 
same. They are the truths of the gospel made effec¬ 
tual by the Holy Spirit. All that have been connected 
with the church hitherto have been gathered to it in 
this way. They were convinced of sin and converted 
by the truth attended with divine influence. They were 
“ begotten through the gospel.”—“ Saved by the wash¬ 
ing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” 
These means will continue working, effectually till the 
church, having received her members from the last 
generation of men that shall exist, shall be complete. 

But, to accomplish this result, there must be instru¬ 
mentality as well as means. This Christ has provided. 
“ When he ascended up on high, he led captivity cap¬ 
tive, and gave gifts unto men. And he gave some, 
apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; 
and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting 
of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the 
edifying of the body of Christ; till we all come in 
the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the 
Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of 
the stature of the fulness of Christ. This shows that 
Christ provided instrumentality expressly to effect the 
object we are contemplating — to bring the church to a 
state of perfection in point of knowledge, holiness and 
members. For he gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, 
9 


10 


teachers, for the perfecting of the saints , for the work 
of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ . 
And this instrumentality was designed to be permanent* 
to continue operating till the above object should be 
fully accomplished, till the church should be in all 
respects complete,— till we all come in the unity of the 
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a 
perfect man. To accomplish this object the above 
instrumentality is obviously necessary. In other words, 
the gospel ministry, thoroughly furnished by grace and 
by education , is necessary to perfect the church in the 
several particulars now considered. 

It is necessary to perfect the church in religious 
knowledge. The fact, that Christ instituted it for this 
purpose is evidence of its necessity. For, had it been 
needless, he, being infinite in wisdom, would not have 
instituted it. But we are not dependent upon inference , 
or faith merely for evidence of its necessity. This 
necessity is so obvious that we can see it. That the 
gospel ministry should be furnished by grace , holiness, 
experimental knowledge of the truth, none can doubt. 
For, if the blind lead the blind, all foresee the result. 
And that, in order to perfect the church in knowledge, 
the gospel ministry must be furnished by education, is 
scarcely less plain. For Christians, on becoming such, 
are infants in spiritual knowledge, and are exhorted 
“ as new-born babes, to desire the sincere milk of the 
word, that they may grow thereby.” The word, the 
truth, the gospel, in all its parts and relations, its doc¬ 
trines and precepts, must come before their mind if they 
would grow in knowledge till they arrive at the stature 
of men. Now it is true that, by reading, meditation, 
personal research, all can make desirable attainments. 
But that, without religious instruction, Christians will 
not continue advancing in knowledge so as to make 


11 


those high attainments which they should make, is quite 
evident. Observation makes it plain. It is now seen, 
and lias ever been seen, that individuals and churches, 
who avail not themselves of competent religious instruc¬ 
tion, make but very little intellectual progress. They 
grow up to manhood with respect to age but remain 
children in knowledge. 

But competent religious instruction cannot be im¬ 
parted except by such as have first been thoroughly 
instructed. And here is a principle universally admitted 
in relation to all temporal pursuits. None can ade¬ 
quately teach the mechanic arts, agriculture, manufac¬ 
tures, literature, till they themselves have been taught. 
And is the knowledge of spiritual things — of things 
pertaining to the divine government, to eternity — 
things into which angels desire to look—so much more 
easily obtained that all may not only acquire it without 
effort, but adequately communicate it to others ? God, 
in his dealings with man has never proceeded upon this 
principle. For, when he made this promise to his 
people, “ I will take you one of a city and two of a 
family, and bring you to Zion,” he further promised — 
“ I will give you pastors according to mine heart, 
which shall feed you with knowledge and understand¬ 
ing.” And when he would “turn the heart of the 
fathers to the children, and the heart of the children 
to their fathers,” he sent “ Elijah the prophet ” to do it. 
When Christ ascended up on high, he left a ministry 
miraculously furnished for the edification of the church. 
And Paul, in his instructions to Timothy, as a religious 
teacher, says, “Meditate upon these things: give thy¬ 
self wholly to them , that thy profiting may appear to all.” 
From all this it is plain that the gospel ministry, in 
order to feed the church with knowledge, must itself be 


12 


furnished with knowledge : plain too, that God designed 
it should be thus furnished. 

Besides, Christians in general are very much on a 
level, as to their knowledge of the truths and doctrines 
of religion and of their various connexions, relations, 
bearings. One, therefore can receive little instruction 
from another. There may be mutual exhortation and 
encouragement given but little progress will be made 
in knowledge. If, therefore, instead of securing the 
services of a competent religious teacher, Christians 
rely either upon one another or upon an illiterate min¬ 
istry for instruction, they may pass continually round 
through a limited circle of truths, but will not go on 
unto perfection. And Christians will not remain satis¬ 
fied in these circumstances. For mind is progressive, 
expansive, and must have something to fill its growing 
capacities. Therefore, where they avail not themselves 
of an educated ministry, their interest in public religious 
services soon declines. No “ scribe instructed unto the 
kingdom brings forth out of his treasure things newf 
for the want thereof the mind turns to the world for 
something to fill its “ aching void,” and Christians are 
at best stationary in their course. 

But this is not all. Without adequate religious 
instruction, Christians are wanting in stability. They 
have not sufficient confidence in their religious belief, 
but are easily drawn away by what is new or marvellous , 
“ ever learning and never able to come to the knowl¬ 
edge of the truth.” Now apostles speak of “contin¬ 
uing in the faith grounded and settled,” and pray for 
Christians that “ God would make them perfect, stablish, 
strengthen, settle them.” It was for this, in fact, that 
Christ instituted the Gospel ministry. He gave apostles 
pastors, teachers, “ for the work of the ministry, for 


13 


the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come 
in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the 
Son of God, unto a perfect man. That we henceforth 
be no more children, tossed to and fro and carried about 
with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and 
and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to 
deceive.” It is obvious that, in establishing a thor¬ 
oughly furnished ministry to prevent these evils, Christ 
wisely consulted the wants of the church. For Chris¬ 
tians, well instructed in the doctrines of the gospel, are 
comparatively immoveable. They have confidence in 
their belief, are conscious of having an intelligible, sure 
foundation, and can “give a reason of the hope that is 
in them.” They can distinguish between truth and 
error, reality and delusion, and therefore remain firm in 
times of trial, when others are “ like waves of the sea, 
driven with the winds and tossed.” Besides, the church 
needs the defence of a thoroughly furnished ministry. 
For depraved , educated mind is arrayed against her, 
aiming at her destruction, and must be met by mind 
sanctified , educated, having clear intellectual percep¬ 
tions of truth, and knowing experimentally its appropri¬ 
ateness and power. 

The gospel ministry, thoroughly furnished by grace 
and by education, is necessary to perfect the church in 
holiness. For she is to be.sanctified through the truth : 
— the truths of the gospel made effectual by the Holy 
Spirit. Agreeably, Christians are said to “have purified 
their souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit.” 
But, if the church is to be perfected in holiness by 
means of the truth, then must she come to the know¬ 
ledge of the truth. The doctrines of the gospel must 
be presented to her mind in their fulness, at proper 
seasons, in just order, in suitable degrees, and in a clear 
light, so that, truth shall be made to act upon the mind 


14 


and heart appropriately.— The whole system of revealed 
truth — not merely some parts of it —- for it is all 
designed to aid in and is essential to the perfecting of 
the saints. They are to “ grow in grace and in the 
knowledge of the Lord,” and cannot make progress in 
the one and not in the other. The end, which is 
holiness, cannot be attained without the means, which 
are knowledge, truth. It is only when the ivhole field 
of revealed truth is laid open to the view of Christians 
that they have just perceptions of what is required of 
them, and of the motives which excite to holy obedi¬ 
ence. It is under the influence of these adequate , vivid 
impressions of the gospel, that they go on unto perfec¬ 
tion. It is while “ with open face beholding as in a 
glass the glory of the Lord, that they are changed into 
the same image from glory to glory.” 

But who that is not thoroughly furnished for the 
work, is able to make such exhibitions of the truth ? 
Who, that doth not both know the truth experimentally 
and make the study of it his chief employ ? Even 
Paul, with his fervent spirit, his accomplished education, 
and his miraculous gifts, exclaims, in view of the res¬ 
ponsible, arduous undertaking, “ Who is sufficient for 
these things.” 

The gospel ministry, thoroughly furnished, is also 
necessary to perfect the church with respect to mem¬ 
bers. For the church is to be composed of individuals 
gathered from all the generations of men that have 
lived and shall live, and the instrumentality, employed 
in advancing it to its present state, is that which shall 
be employed in gathering in its remaining members. 
None other has been provided; nor will any other be 
provided. For, when Christ commissioned his apostles 
to go and preach the gospel to every creature, he insti¬ 
tuted a ministry which he designed should continue 


15 


till redemption should be complete. Accordingly, he 
said to them, “ Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the 
end of the world.” This assurance implies that Christ 
intended his apostles should have successors in the min¬ 
istry, qualified for their work, with whom he would be, 
and by whose instrumentality he would gather in his 
people from age to age till the close of time. This 
succession in the ministry he has furnished and contin¬ 
ued up to the present period. It is the chief human 
agency by which he has been gathering and edifying 
the church : and he will continue it till the church shall 
be complete, till we all come in the unity of the faith, 
and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect 
man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of 
Christ. 

From what has now been said it follows that, in sus¬ 
taining a pious, educated ministry, the church exercises 
wisdom. For she is yet imperfect and needs to advance 
in spiritual attainments. This is essential to her enjoy¬ 
ment, her usefulness, her complete preparation for 
heaven. For, unless she make all the progress in 
knowledge and holiness of which she is capable, she 
can neither enjoy all which it is her privilege to enjoy, 
nor exert in favor of the world’s salvation all the influ¬ 
ence it is her duty to exert; nor can she enter into the 
kingdom of God under as favorable circumstances as 
she might. For, in his kingdom there will be degrees 
of glory corresponding with present holiness and use¬ 
fulness. “For one star differeth from another star in 
glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead.” “They 
that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars 
for ever and ever.” But the ministry thoroughly fur¬ 
nished, is a principal means by which the church is to 
be advanced in spiritual attainments. It was instituted 
for this purpose; and the condition of those Christians 


16 


who enjoy it, compared with that of others, shows its 
importance. For their progress is actually greater. 
They have ascended higher in the path which shineth 
more and more; have more enlarged views; more 
extended prospects; a more stable, consistent piety; 
a more intelligible, satisfactory ground of hope. All 
their circumstances, temporal and spiritual, show that 
the maintenance of an adequate ministry is not vain. 

But all the benefits resulting from the ministry are 
not, at present, realized. For this is the instrumentality 
by which the church is to be sustained and piety trans¬ 
mitted from generation to generation, so that instead of 
the fathers shall be their children through all coming 
ages till the church, having received all her members, 
shall be complete. Therefore it is not fruitless to sus¬ 
tain a thoroughly furnished ministry. I know there are 
those who assert the contrary.— Those who decry the 
ministry as a departure from Christian simplicity, an 
invention of man, a combination for selfish purposes, 
an engine of oppression, an obstacle to reform, a hind¬ 
rance to the advancement of Christ’s kingdom. But 
this is nothing new. It is only a repetition of what has 
been. As, in the natural world, there are bodies which 
periodically appear, blaze a while, and pass away; so, 
from the commencement of Christianity, there have been 
associated errorists, bodies, which, moving in quite 
eccentric orbits, have periodically appeared in the moral 
heavens, aiming, by their own excess of brightness, to 
eclipse and cast into perpetual shade that steady light 
which, through every age has been shedding upon the 
world its benign radiance. And they have had influ¬ 
ence : — have attracted notice. The multitude has 
gone out to gaze. But while they were in the attitude 
of expectation, anticipating marvellous light, these self- 
illuminated bodies, more like meteors than like comets, 


17 


have passed away, leaving them in darkness more gross 
and disastrous than before. And now, in their disap¬ 
pointment and gloom, they have turned to the perma¬ 
nent institutions of Christ, to the organized church 
sustaining a pious, educated ministry;—to this divinely 
constituted and divinely styled “ light of the world” they 
have turned, convinced that, under God, it is the only 
sufficient medium of intelligence and salvation for lost, 
benighted man. 

Experience has shown that to sustain the ministry of 
reconciliation is not vain. And experience will yet 
show it;—the experience of coming generations; — 
the united, joyful experience of “ the general assembly 
and church of the first born” complete in glory;—they, 
sitting upon the heavenly hills and reviewing all the 
way in which they were led through the scenes of time, 
will remember with delight, and everlasting gratitude, 
that it pleased God “ by the foolishness of preaching to 
save them that believed.” 

It follows from this discourse that to be a minister of 
the gospel is a privilege and an honor. Not that it 
secures either worldly treasure, distinction or applause ; 
nor because it is a post of ease. On the contrary, 
the faithful minister of Christ must endure self-denial, 
bear the world’s neglect, submit to trials and discour¬ 
agements, and labor on till worn out with care and 
service. Still he enjoys a high privilege; for he is 
producing effects happy and lasting. He is employed 
in perfecting the church of Christ; and as he sees it 
advancing in knowledge, holiness, joy, and increasing 
by the addition of such as shall be saved; as he sees 
member after member brought to maturity and gathered 
to their rest as shocks of corn in their season, and, in 
thought, follows them along the ages of a blessed iminor- 


o 


18 


tality — as lie contemplates these happy, enduring effects 
of his labors, he enjoys a satisfaction unknown to the 
world and would not exchange conditions with the most 
distinguished of earth’s favorites. 

Nor is the ministry of reconciliation merely a privi¬ 
lege. It is an honor. The faithful minister is a 
“ worker together ” with Christ and God: and, to be 
associated with God in accomplishing any of his works 
of benevolence, however small, is an honor. But 
the gospel ministry is an instrumentality which God 
is employing for the accomplishment of his noblest 
work. By it he is edifying and will perfect the church; 
is carrying forward and will complete the work of 
redemption. This is a work of unrivalled importance 
and grandeur; for it deeply involves the glory of God. 
It occupied his mind from eternity, and is the great 
object in subserviency to which, the world was made, 
and to which all the distinguished events of time have 
referred. It is the object for which “ God was manifest 
in the flesh,” the cross endured, angels sent forth as 
ministering spirits.— The object for which “ all nature 
stands, and stars their courses move.” In short, it is 
Jehovah’s greatest work, that upon which he relies for 
the fullest, most illustrious display of his glory. “ To 
the intent that now unto the principalities and powers 
in heavenly places might be known by the church the 
manifold wisdom of God.” The church, “delivered 
from the power of darkness, and translated into the 
kingdom of his dear son,” will be an object of unrivalled 
interest, and will stand eternally as a monument illus¬ 
trating the “ exceeding greatness of his power, and the 
exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us 
through Christ Jesus.” And when this great work, this 
spiritual building, shall have been perfected ; when the 
top stone shall have been laid with shouting, and it 


19 


stands complete, the admiration of the universe, will it 
be no honor to have been instrumental in fitting and 
polishing even one of the lively stones of which it will 
be composed ? 

My Dear Brother, yours are the privilege and the 
honor of bearing a part in the accomplishment of this 
glorious work : —a privilege, an honor, to which angels 
aspire. And if, amidst the arduous labors before you, 
and the scenes of trial and discouragement through 
which you will be called to pass, you should be inclined 
to despondency, let the thought, that you are a worker 
together with God in accomplishing the object nearest 
his heart; an object, which is, and ultimately will 
appear to be , the greatest, most benevolent, glorious, 
that ever occupied even the divine mind; — let this 
thought sustain, cheer, animate you. Consider 44 that 
the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be 
compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” 
Think of 44 the recompense of the reward.” And may 
such be your fidelity and success that this reward shall 
be great; — such that you shall at length 44 shine as the 
brightness of the firmament, and as the stars for ever 
and ever.” 


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